2018 IL App (1st) 153331 SIXTH DIVISION October 5, 2018 No. 1-15-3331 IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court of ) Cook County. Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) v. ) No. 14 CR 14375 ) JOSE LOPEZ, ) ) Honorable Mary Colleen Roberts, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding. PRESIDING JUSTICE DELORT delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Connors and Harris concurred in the judgment and opinion. OPINION ¶1 Defendant Jose Lopez was charged with driving while his license was suspended (DWLS) in violation of section 6-303(a) of the Illinois Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/6-303(a) (West 2014)). Defendant filed a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence, alleging that the traffic stop that led to his arrest was illegal. After an evidentiary hearing, the circuit court denied defendant’s motion. Following a stipulated bench trial, defendant was convicted of DWLS and sentenced to 24 months of probation and 30 days’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant contends that the court erred in denying his motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. Specifically, he 1-15-3331 argues that the anonymous tip relied upon by the arresting officer was unreliable and inadequate to establish reasonable suspicion of drunk driving. We reverse. ¶2 BACKGROUND ¶3 Defendant was charged with DWLS under section 6-303(a) of the Illinois Vehicle Code (id.), stemming from a traffic stop on August 3, 2014. Defendant moved to quash arrest and suppress evidence, alleging that the traffic stop violated his right to be free from unreasonable seizures. In response, the State filed a motion to strike defendant’s motion. The State argued that, even if the arresting officer illegally seized defendant, the identity of a defendant is not evidence that can be suppressed. The circuit court denied the State’s motion to strike, and the case proceeded to an evidentiary hearing on defendant’s motion. The only witness who testified was Chicago police officer Reyes Martinez. ¶4 Officer Martinez testified that at around 8:00 p.m. on August 3, 2014, he was on duty near the intersection of Pulaski Road and 50th Street in Chicago. He received a message from another police vehicle that there “was a DUI driver heading outbound on Pulaski from 43rd Street.” The vehicle was described as a black Expedition with a partial license plate number NZ 1. The driver of the Expedition was described as “a male Hispanic.” Officer Martinez did not know the identity of the person who reported the alleged drunk driver, nor did he know how much time elapsed between the initial report and the eventual traffic stop. 1 ¶5 Officer Martinez then spotted a black Expedition, with a license plate starting with N 211 driving southbound on Pulaski Road. Officer Martinez pulled up behind the Expedition at the intersection of Pulaski Road and 50th Street. He did not observe any traffic violations or 1 Although he admitted that he did not know when the tip originally came in, Officer Martinez “guessed” that two minutes passed ...
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